Five words that alone seem innocuous enough but spliced together, they cause me to inhale deeply.
Finding balance, juggling a new life, trying to find my way; these are all ways I could describe what really is just ‘trying to find what works’. I often tell people I am hodge-podging together an income but in reality it feels a little more like throwing spaghetti at the wall and waiting to see what sticks. Aside from the mom hat I’m also working with a real estate support company offering contract-to-close, virtual assistance, listing coordination, and social media support. I pour a great deal of love into photography, I of course am continuing to freelance in graphic design/graphic arts, and I am working towards a fast approaching illustration deadline that will hopefully put some legs beneath my next children’s book. But each, seemingly large piece of the puzzle is actually quite small. A few dollars here, a couple there, and it looks more like building the foundation that laying the shingles.
But you know what, that’s okay. It doesn’t have to be neat and tidy to be perfect. I’ve always known that life is a game of perseverance and to get where I want to be, I need to go after it. If I need to grind a few levels before I can wield the staff of significant balance, then so be it!
The truth is I LOVE the creative work. I even love the non creative work. I love being able to stay at home with my son, take him to playdates – to babywearing meet ups – to doctors appointments or afternoons in the park – and then chasing after the job and career while he is asleep or safely playing with daddy.
Over the past month things have started to pick up and I am struggling every day to find the balance but I am so grateful for that struggle.
Currently there are four…FOUR projects on my desk in various stages of completion and while the studious me is constantly wishing I could sit down and finish them, I know how lucky I am that they are there.
For a long time I wondered how stay at home moms managed the pressure. Then I started to wonder how working moms managed – how hard it must be to kiss their kids goodbye each day to join in the rat race. After trying to find a marriage between the two, my only wonder now is HOW DO ANY MOMS DO IT?
I was fortunate to run some mommy and me mini sessions recently and each mom came to me with their children and they were ALL doing so great. Each mom approached the journey differently and each one was kicking butt in their approach. My take away, other than some great images and new friendships, was this: when a mother approaches any challenge she faces with the strength of love for her children, she succeeds.
So maybe, just maybe those five scary words, “freelance work from home mom” will start to feel less scary after a while. MAYBE they will be that which helps me find rhythm in the chaos……..or maybe they wont. But if there’s anything I know for sure in this life it’s that if it (goals) is worth working for, it’s worth working hard for.
So big thanks to moms everywhere for continuing to set great examples, for being tenacious and beautiful and loving and successful. Thank you for inspiring me.
My Texas Life 